Given increasing levels of environmental consciousness in industry and among consumers, it is desirable to formulate washing or cleaning agents which are as highly concentrated as possible, can be offered for sale in smaller packages and so generate less waste after the use thereof.
WO 2010/019841 A2, for example, discloses an ultra-concentrated liquid washing or cleaning agent which contains (a) 25 to 60 wt. % of nonionic surfactant, (b) 5 to 30 wt. % of anionic surfactant, (c) 0.5 to 18 wt. % of a cold water dispersion aid and (d) up to 60 wt. % of water.
Today, washing or cleaning agents are offered for sale to consumers in many and varied presentations. In addition to powders and granules, these presentations for example also include liquids, gels or portion packages (tablets or filled pouches).
Portion packages containing liquid washing or cleaning agents are in particular becoming ever more popular, since on the one hand they fulfill the consumer's desire for simplified dispensing and on the other hand an ever increasing number of consumers prefer liquid washing or cleaning agents. In this case too it is desirable to use washing or cleaning agents which are as highly concentrated as possible.
When formulating liquid washing or cleaning agents for packaging in water-soluble pouches care should be taken to ensure that the ingredients of the washing or cleaning agent do not partially or completely dissolve the water-soluble envelope of the pouch before use thereof and so give rise to unwanted leaks.
Stability problems, in particular with regard to the stability of the surfactant system, may also occur in highly concentrated washing or cleaning agents. Highly concentrated washing or cleaning agents (>35 wt. % surfactant) containing large quantities of a surfactant system optimized with regard to stability sometimes exhibit shortcomings in terms of cleaning performance.
It was accordingly an object of the present invention to provide a stable, highly concentrated liquid washing or cleaning agent with good cleaning performance which is also suitable for packaging in a water-soluble envelope.
Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description of the invention and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background of the invention.